ROCHESTER, Minn. - The number of day-care providers helping to raise the bar on quality early childhood in Minnesota has now surpassed one-thousand. The providers are enrolled in the voluntary rating program called "Parent Aware."

Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson remarked that the voluntary rating system helps providers stay up to date and helps parents more easily find high-quality care and early education.

"I want people to know," she declared, "they should look for quality-rated child care homes because their kids are going to get off to a better start and be more prepared for kindergarten if they do."

Jesson said kids who are ready when they get to kindergarten have better odds for future success, and that's important to all Minnesotans.

In Olmstead County, the program was put in place last year and one of the top-rated programs in that area thus far is Underbakke's "Little Tykes Daycare" in Rochester. That's where Erin Underbakke and her husband take care of a dozen children, from four months to nine years

"I'm always taking different trainings and trying to stay on top of everything," Erin Underbakke said. "This just shows that the providers who are doing this are willing to take an extra step and further their education to help get these kids ready for school."

The Parent Aware rating system is set to go statewide next year.

More information on the program and those providers taking part can be found online at ParentAwareRatings.org.





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Missourians scored some big wins for child care and pre-K programs in the 2023 legislative session, although some said it is just a start.

Brian Schmidt, executive director of the group Kids Win Missouri, called it a "really exciting time" for child care and early childhood education in the state. He attributes a lot of the legislative gains, including a combined $160 million for child care subsidies and pre-K programs, to the child care crisis exacerbated by the COVID pandemic.

"Seventy-three counties in Missouri are considered child care deserts," Schmidt pointed out. "I think it's really just an impact of the pandemic, where a lot of the child care facilities are just struggling to find and recruit a workforce."

Schmidt added Gov. Mike Parson identified expanding early-childhood programs as a priority. Ideally, he said, the $78.5 million to increase child care subsidies will be an incentive for more child care centers to take part in the subsidy program, increasing the options for low-income Missouri families. And regarding the additional $82 million for pre-K programs, Schmidt noted it "far exceeds" any previous legislative proposals for pre-K.

He added the pre-K funding was designed to provide families with options.

"Fifty-six million is for school districts, and then the other $26 million is for child care facilities," Schmidt outlined. "Families could potentially have some options to choose the setting that best fits their needs."

Robin Phillips, CEO of the nonprofit Child Care Aware of Missouri, lauded the funding but has concerns about what will happen when American Rescue Plan Act funds expire in a little more than a year.

She argued the child care system is a "broken business model," with no funding formula behind community-based child care. In addition to higher operating costs for food, gas, utilities and rent, Phillips pointed to providers' struggle to maintain a workforce.

"You have to have so many teachers for the number of children depending on the age range; you must have, for licensing," Phillips emphasized. "And yet, when you pay all those expenses, you're left with very little to pay teachers at about $12 an hour. That's not a livable wage."

Calling the child care system "very complex and layered," Phillips added a bridge needs to be built to keep the progress going.

"There are great and significant investments happening, and we still have a lot of work to do," Phillips acknowledged. "Because two years, three years of federal relief money doesn't fix 40 years of fragmentation."


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Researchers say a lot of learning begins even before birth - and especially between birth and age five.

Gov. JB Pritzker's "Smart Start Illinois" is a plan to increase access to early learning services for young families across the state.

Supporters of the plan say it not only benefits children through high-quality learning, but would function as stable, reliable childcare so their parents can work or go to school.

Julissa Cruz, senior director of community-based advocacy at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning, said she's optimistic about the transformative impact she believes the plan will eventually have on the workforce.

"You have a workforce that's comprised of mostly Black and Brown women, who are making wages that they themselves qualify for public assistance," said Cruz. "Smart Start would really start to rectify that pay scale, and really work closer to pay equity."

The governor's plan aims to supply as many as 500 three and four-year-olds with early-learning access as soon as fiscal year 2024.

Cost is expected to be the biggest barrier in implementing the plan and making sure it continues beyond Pritzker's tenure.

Smart Start plans to serve other areas, too, including home visits and early intervention for children who may need more robust support.

Cruz said each of those items will need support in order for families to access all aspects of early learning.

"When you have a child who's been identified early on as having either a cognitive or physical impairment, they go through what's called early intervention," said Cruz. "And then, you are connected to service providers who can provide that service - so, that may be occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy. That system is individual contractors."

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children under age five receive a developmental screening every six months.





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April is Global Volunteer Awareness Month, and in Iowa advocates are calling on people to donate books and their time to help kids learn to read them.

Few books and low literacy rates are especially acute in disadvantaged areas of the state. United Way of Central Iowa is focusing on literacy this month, helping get books into the hands of people who need them, and calling on volunteers to help children learn to read, especially in economically challenged communities.

Joy Talmon, volunteer engagement officer for the United Way of Central Iowa, said there is a huge disparity between economically stable and unstable communities.

"For a middle-income household, we see 13 books per child," Talmon pointed out. "When you move into our lower-income households, we see one book per 300 children."

Facing such a disparity, United Way is trying to collect 24,000 books this month.

Iowa ranks in the top third of states in number of hours volunteered, and in the top ten for informal volunteering, such as when someone shovels a driveway, cooks a meal or just spends time with someone who is alone.

Talmon noted informal volunteering is an important component to the awareness month.

"Iowa in particular is really ingrained at helping your neighbor," Talmon observed. "We have a lot of individuals that are willing to step up and help their 'neighbor.' Somebody who needs tax assistance or a child that needs a mentor, a room that needs to be painted for a program."

Talmon added volunteering does not have to involve a large time commitment, and added every hour donated to help someone else is important.